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JDRF Launches Immune Tolerance Center At Harvard
New York, NY, August 25, 2004--Because type 1 diabetes is caused by a breakdown in immune tolerance, with the body attacking its own insulin-producing beta cells, understanding how the immune system falters and how to re-establish tolerance to beta cells is a critical objective for researchers. In fact, learning ways to maintain or restore immune tolerance represents one of JDRF's bold and significant therapeutic targets for the next five years.
In pursuit of this goal, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Harvard Medical School have opened a new research Center to study immune tolerance and ways that it might be influenced to prevent, treat, or cure juvenile, type 1, diabetes. The Center, announced at a press conference in Boston on August 23, will be supported by JDRF with a three-year grant of approximately $5 million.
The JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School will be co-directed by Diane Mathis, Ph.D., and Christophe Benoist, M.D., Ph.D., who will oversee a group of 10 laboratories from Harvard and its affiliated institutions. The Center will bring together complementary expertise in immunology, molecular biology and experimental transplantation.
"We are confident the brilliant scientists affiliated with the new JDRF Center for Immunological Tolerance in Type 1 Diabetes at Harvard Medical School will produce very promising results," said Peter Van Etten, president and CEO of JDRF. "We always strive to work with the best the science world has to offer, and I'm confident that these people are at the very top of their field.
The Center's primary goals include:
Essentially, the Center is a confederation of eight research projects and three "cores" (for administrative support), constituting a broad-based basic research program.
Dr. Mathis said, "Christophe and I are delighted to have pulled together such an 'All Star' team for this Center. With our team in place, we are confident that, in due time, we will elicit an impressive amount of new information about how the immune system breaks down and provokes the onset of type 1 diabetes. Armed with this new knowledge, we will be that much closer to finding ways to prevent and ultimately cure the disease."
Demonstrated Expertise in Immune Tolerance
Dr. Mathis is currently a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and holds the William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research at Joslin Diabetes Center. She obtained a B.Sc. degree from Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester. Dr. Benoist is also a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and holds the William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research at Joslin. Dr. Benoist received his medical degree from the Université Paris VII and his doctoral degree from the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg. He is a member of the French Académie des Sciences.
Both Dr. Mathis and Dr. Benoist performed postdoctoral studies at the Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Eucaryotes in Strasbourg, France, and at Stanford University Medical Center. The two returned to France in 1983 to establish a laboratory at the Institut de Genetique et de Biologie Moleculaire et Cellulaire in Strasbourg. The Mathis/Benoist lab moved to Joslin Diabetes Center at the end of 1999.
Drs. Mathis and Benoist have been funded by JDRF for several years due to their expertise in immunology, making important discoveries during that period. Two years ago, for example, they were part of a research team that described the function of a protein, called AIRE, (autoimmune regulator) that is critical in helping immune cells learn to recognize and avoid attacking the far-flung organs and tissues of the body's pancreatic islet cells. And last year they were on a team that developed a novel way of tracking type 1 diabetes by using molecular tools called tetramers to identify and follow the immune cells that mistakenly attack pancreatic islets and cause the disease.
Support From Marshalls
At the press conference, Van Etten pointed out the importance of Marshalls in making the new Center a reality. "The other half of this impressive story of discovery and strides for a cure belongs to our partners in fund-raising," he said. "Today I would especially like to recognize Marshalls as an exceptional corporate partner. This new Center is generously supported by Marshalls' ten year partnership with JDRF, a partnership which began in 1994 when they raised $22,000 for the Walk. Just three years later in 1997, Marshalls was raising $500,000 a year, and by 2000, their annual donations exceeded $1 million. Now, more than 650 stores participate in 42 states and Puerto Rico, selling JDRF paper sneakers and forming Walk teams. Last year, Marshalls raised a phenomenal $1,275,000, and over the last 10 years, their cumulative contributions have exceeded $7.4 million. So it's safe to say that this Center has been blessed with two 'Dream Teams.'"
